Trends in Turnover Research on Korean Nurses: Based on 8 Journals Published by Member Societies under the Korean Academy of Nursing Science, 2006-2015

Abstract

Purpose:This study was done to identify the current status of turnover research on Korean nurses and to suggest directions for future research.Methods:A total of 63 articles over the past 10 years were selected using key words such as turnover intention or turnover-related variables from several databases. Frequency and percent were used to describe the characteristics of the turnover studies.Results:Quantitative research accounted for 90.5% of the total studies, and 60.3% of the studies were published by the Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration. Most studies focused on the turnover intention of general nurses (71.9%) working in general hospitals (54.4%). Lawler’s turnover intention tool was used in 28.1% of the studies with a relatively high score for Cronbach’s alpha (0.7≤ a in 98.2% studies). 50.9% of the studies used descriptive survey design, and stepwise or hierarchical regression was used for the final statistical methods in 49.1% of the studies. Among the studies, 42.1% included job satisfaction as an influencing factor for turnover intention. In late twenties, single status, college graduates, staff nurse, low salary, and nursing experience with 1-5 years appeared to be significantly related to turnover intention across the studies.Conclusion:To date, turnover intention has been substituted for turnover in most studies. Because it is believed that nursing turnover will continue and ultimately challenge patient care and nursing outcomes, longitudinal research with actual turnover data is needed to produce new evidence on the turnover culture and its effects on health care outcomes in Korea.